Under Armour
by MoreThanHer
Summary: What happens when Fang needs to tell Max something, but he can't put it into words? Well a whole lot of randomness of course! One-shot. A little Halloween treat for y'alls. Enjoy! Edit: ENDING NOW UP!
1. Allow Me To Explain

**Alright, this is just a random one shot that I've been meaning to post for a while. And today is the day I'll shall do so. Think of it as a sort of Halloween present to the reviewers of my other story.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride. And my friend Leah owns some of lines in this, since it is her that inspired me to write this.**

**WARNING: This all happened in a dream of mine, so please, be warned that there will be no discernible plot and it is also random beyond belief. So sorry if I ruin whatever macho image of Fang you may have in your head. For it shan't last long.

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**Max POV**

"Night Max," Angel said sleepily as I walked to her door.

I smiled back at her. "Good night, sweetie," I said. I flicked off the lights and closed the door softly behind me.

_Finally,_ I thought as I made my way down the hall. It was late I had just finished putting the kids to bed. All I wanted now was to just go to my room and enjoy what little time we had left here at my mom's. We'd been here for only a few days, but I knew we'd have to start moving again, and soon. Staying in one place for long was never a good idea for us.

But that didn't mean I wasn't going to take advantage of the situation and get as much sleep as I possibly could.

When I got to my room I changed quickly, getting into a comfy pair of baby blue pajama pants and a white tank top. I settled down on my bed and was just reaching to turn off my lamp when I heard a faint knock on the door.

I sighed. It was probably Nudge or Angel not being able to sleep. "Come in," I called softly.

The door creaked open and Fang stepped in, closing it soundlessly behind him.

"Hey," he said, leaning back against the door.

"Hey," I said back, rubbing my eyes sleepily. I looked over at my clock. It read a little past 11 o'clock. What on Earth could he want that couldn't wait until morning?

"Max," he said, drawing my attention back to him. "We need to talk."

I cursed under my breath. This was _definitely _not a conversation I wanted to have right now.

"About what?" I asked innocently, pretending to be clueless.

He wasn't buying it. But instead of saying anything, he just came and sat down next to me.

"Max..." he said, trailing off like he didn't know what to say.

"Yeah?" I whispered back. He was sitting so close that our legs were touching, sending chills down my spine.

"I need to tell you something. But...I don't know how." He looked up at me and seemed to search my face for something. I was guessing he found what he was looking for, because he continued. "But.... But I think I can show you."

My heart was banging against my rib cage, threatening to break free any second. "O-okay," I stuttered lamely.

He smiled at me. And not just any smile, but _his _smile. The one that made the sun rise and the birds sing.

He took a big breath and leaned forward slightly, and I felt myself leaning forward too. But instead of kissing me, he whispered in my ear.

"Allow me to explain through interpretive dance."

Uh...

Before I could even say 'WTF' he was off the bed and striding confidently to the radio/boom-box I had on my desk. He pulled a small white envelope out of his pocket and carefully slid a CD out. He pressed a button and the dome top came up, allowing him to place the CD inside. He pressed play and almost instantly the room was filled with soft classical music.

"Um...Fang?" I said, laughing nervously. "What are you doing?"

"Showing how I feel," he said, his voice sounding light and poetic. "Dance is the only way I can express my feelings to you."

"Well, you know, a card works too," I said, getting really freaked out as he took off his shirt to reveal that black under-armor stuff underneath. Which was creepy because Fang _never _wears under armor. He always said it was too tight, and that only ballerinas wear stuff like that.

I guess he was right.

"No," he said simply, standing on the points of his toes. "A card could never convey my emotions in a way I see accurate."

Okay, so apparently Fang has not only gone crazy, but he's also been reading the dictionary.

Before I could get another word out, the song started getting louder and I couldn't speak over it without waking the others. Oh God, what the heck is going on?

"This is for you, my Maximum," he said. Then he did a strange twirling thing and then skipped to the side, narrowly avoiding hitting his leg on my garbage can.

"Er...Fang?" I said, as he started to twirl some more, moving around in a surprisingly graceful way.

"Yes, love?" he said, jumping nimbly over a pile of clothes I had in the middle of my floor.

"Uh..." I really had no idea what to say. I mean he was _dancing_. And he had just called me 'love'. What was I supposed to do? "Well, this is real... er, nice and all but—"

"Shhh," he interrupted me, tiptoeing across the room, his arms spread wide beside him. "We need not speak."

"We need not dance either. But yet, there you are."

He ignored me and closed him eyes, swaying to the music.

Yeah, you heard me, _swaying. _

He held his hand together, the thumbs crossed, and started moving them so they looked like a bird. He even cooed softly, like a dove.

And yes, it looked every bit as strange as it sounds.

"I love this part," he whispered excitedly. He started at one end of the room, got a running start, and then pirouetted all the way across the room to the other wall. As he landed the music came to an end, symbols crashing and drums thrumming out a fast but steady rhythm.

Fang bowed low to the ground, then straightened up and came to sit next to me again, slipping his shirt back on.

"So?" he asked after a moment of silence. "What did you think?"

I opened my mouth to say how I would be scarred, but instead fainted

"Max? Max!" Someone was shaking me awake and I moaned softly.

"Max? Are you okay?" the voice asked again. Only this time I recognized it and my eyes shot open.

"Stop dancing!" I shouted, pushing Fang away. When I saw his confused look I covered my mouth and looked around. I was under the covers of my bed, and Fang was standing worriedly by my side. The light on my boom-box was off, and from what I could see there was no CD inside.

"Dancing?" Fang asked confused.

"Uh...never mind. What happened?"

"You were shouting in your sleep. I came in here to make sure you were okay."

"Oh...okay...well, thanks. Um, good night." I said, but instead of leaving he sat down next to me.

He searched my face for a second, sort of like he did in my dream and I had a sudden flash back to him prancing around my room. I shuddered at the disturbing memory.

"You sure you're okay?" he asked. I nodded and he stood up from the bed, going over to my door.

"Good night, Max," he said.

I would have said something back, but he had already left the room.

But not before I had seen a part of his shirt that had ridden up....

...and saw the under armor underneath.

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**Happy Halloween **

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	2. Parallel Conversation

**Um ... I really have nothing to say about this one. Blame it on my overactive imagination and lack of a life. :P**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride. And after writing this, I think that's sort of a good thing.**

**Warning: There as an unintended (by the character that is. _I _meant to put it in there) innuendo towards the end referring to Slash. But nothing too bad. Still, just to warn you, know it's there.**

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It was late on a Friday night, and I was sitting alone in my bedroom, waiting. Before dinner Fang had pulled me aside and told me he wanted to tell me something, but that it had to wait until that others were asleep. It had been the first real conversation we'd had since my weird dream about Fang dancing. A dream that will probably haunt me for the rest of my life.

But anyways, I was waiting in my room, the grandfather clock in the hallway of my mom's house having just struck midnight, when there was a soft knock on my door. He didn't wait for me to answer, but just came in.

"Um ... hey, Max," Fang muttered, almost sounding a little nervous.

"Hey," I said softly, patting the spot on the bed next to me. He came over and sat down, keeping his eyes on his feet the whole time.

The only light in the room was coming from my alarm clock, but it was enough for me to recognize the skin tight, black under armour Fang had taken to wearing lately. He didn't even try to hide it with long sleeved shirts anymore, instead just wearing it with a pare of black jeans.

"Fang?" I asked after a quiet minute. "What did you want to tell me?"

He took a deep breath, running a hand through his jet black hair. When he spoke he sounded hesitant and refused to look at me. "Well, um ... I really don't know how to say this."

_Oh, God,_ I thought. We hadn't talked about our relationship in a while, so I was wondering if that's what he wanted to discuss.

Suddenly he got off the bed and moved over to my window, gazing out of it with a faraway expression. "I just need to admit something. And I want to tell you first before the others."

Um, okay. Now I was really interested in what he had to say.

"People have been accusing me of it for a long time now," he said, still looking out the window. "And every time I deny it. And I used to be telling the truth whenever I said no. But now ... well, it's just lies."

Oh. My. God. Was he admitting ... was he saying ... that he was ...

_Gay?_

"What are you saying?" I asked, looking at him with a shocked expression. He shook his head with his eyes closed, an amused smile on his lips.

"I don't know why it's so hard to say," he said, still not looking at me. "I mean ... it's just one little word, three little letters."

_Okay, Max. Take a deep breath. In, out. In, out. _None of my mental coaching seemed to be helping, though. I mean come on, how would you feel if the guy you were in love with admitted to you that he was gay?

"Um ... well ..." I didn't know what to say. I don't think there was anything _to_ say.

"Are you mad?" he asked quietly.

I took deep breath. "No," I said truthfully. "Not mad, just surprised. And I don't know why. I mean, always sorts suspected it deep down."

Now he looked at me, a look of relief on his face. "Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, look at you. Sometimes you just sort of _scream_ ... well, you know." I was starting to accept the idea enough to joke about it, but I couldn't bring myself to say the word.

He chuckled lightly, then came over and gave me a hug. "Thank you, Max."

"No problem," I said, when he pulled away. He started towards the door, but I called his name. He turned and gave me a questioning look.

"Since when?" I asked.

He thought about it for a minute. "A little before I started wearing the under armour." Everything seemed to snap in place then. Fang _had_ always said only ballerinas and gay people wore that. It all made sense now. But I had one more question before he left.

"Uh, I was wondering," I said, blushing. "Is Iggy ... you know, is he ... also ...." I trailed off, not sure how to ask.

Fang rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Iggy? No way, he's too much of a cream puff."

I just stared at him. "He's _too much_ of a cream puff?" I repeated in disbelief. I mean, was that even _possible?_

"Yeah," Fang said in a 'duh' tone. "You gotta be tough for this kind of life style. You have to be able to find pleasure in the pain—"

I instantly plugged my ears and started talking over him. "Ew! Ew, ew, ew, ew, _ew! _God, Fang! I did _not_ need to hear that!"

There was silence for a minute, and when I finally looked at Fang I saw that he was giving me a confused look. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

I returned his confused look. "What are _you_ talking about?" I said back.

"I asked you first."

I went through our conversation in my head before I spoke, looking for something I might have missed. "But ... but aren't you taking about being gay?"

His eyes got wide as saucers and a look of horror passed over his face. "What? No!" he practically shouted. "I'm not _gay! _Why would you even _think_ that?"

I just gaped at him. "But - you said. You said one word, with three letters. G-A-Y, that's three letters. A-and you said that that's why you're wearing the under armour. And the whole thing with the pleasure within the —" This time he cut me off.

"Oh, God, Max! Gross! No! I'm _not _gay!"

"Then what were you trying to say?" By now we were both shouting and I was surprised no one had come to see what the commotion was about.

"That I'm emo!" he shouted, pulling up the sleeve of his under armour. I could barely make out a few pink lines going across his wrist.

Oh.

Okay.

So ... um, wow.

I was so shocked by the perfectness of our parallel conversation that I started laughing, which caused Fang to glare daggers at me.

"Why are you laughing?" he asked angrily.

"Because I thought you were gay!" I laughed out, without thinking.

He huffed and stormed out of my room.

"Fang!" I yelled after him, jumping out of bed. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to cut away this embarrassment that you've caused me!" The bizarreness of the statement made me laugh even more, making me nearly fall over as I ran into the hall.

_Meanwhile, in the room next door..._

Iggy stood on his bed, his ear pressed against the wall, listening to the argument next door. A single tear rolled down his cheek.

"I'd could be emo," he whispered to no one in particular. "For you Fang, I could be emo..."

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**So ... yeah. I hope that wasn't too traumatizing. And I have nothing against gay people, nor do I approve of self mutilation. They were just necessary for the plot. Not there was really a plot. But anywho, I hope y'all enjoyed! X)**


	3. Compromise

**Alright, so I'm pretty sure they're gonna drag me off to the nuthouse after this (whether that's paranoia or pessimism, I don't really think it matters) but I think you guys deserve a wrap-up on this one. So here we are with the final installment in this traumatizing story that you people actually seem to like. Why? I have no idea. Do I want to know? No, I think it will ruin the magic. And since I've already ruined Fang, magic is really all I have left.**

**But now, without any further ado; Chapter 3.  
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**Disclaimer (I'm too lazy to go back and see if I already put one in): I don't own Maximum Ride ... duh.

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Max stood in the back of the room, ignoring Fang's feeble pleas to _please, for the love of God, let him leave._

Max rolled her eyes and pushed him forward.

_Go,_ she mouthed, gesturing to the group of people who were moving away from the table covered in cookies trays and punch bowls and towards a group of folding chairs in the middle of the room.

Fang looked pleadingly to her, and then glanced quickly at the door. Before he could even take a step forward she had moved into the doorway and blocked his path. He grumbled angrily but eventually went and sat in a seat in the back row.

Max took a moment to survey the people in the room. Most of their hair was either black or some bright neon color, and you couldn't spit in that room without hitting some various spike, chain, or facial piercing. Max shifted uncomfortably in her khaki shorts and blue sweatshirt.

"Hello, everyone," said a guy from the front of the room who was standing behind a podium. "Before we begin today, I'd like for you all to meet our newest member. Son, why don't you stand up and tell us all your name?"

Fang stood awkwardly and glanced around the group, keeping his face carefully blank.

"My name is Fang," he said a little reluctantly. "...And I'm an Emo."

"Hi, Fang," came a chorus of voices.

"Now tell us, Fang," said the man. "What made you join Emos Anonymous?"

"Max," he grumbled.

"Is that your brother?" he asked.

"No."

"Oh, so your boyfriend." An understanding murmur went through the crowd as if this was a completely normal assumption. But Fang just looked on in horror as Max tried not to burst out laughing.

"_No,_" he said. "She's my -"

"So does that mean you're single?" a voice from his right asked. Fang and Max both whipped their heads around to see Iggy sitting in one of the chairs, his pale blue eyes framed by thick black eyeliner, and his skinny frame cover in baggy black jeans and chains.

And he was wearing Under Armour.

"_Iggy?_" Fang asked in alarm.

"You can call me Claw," he replied, and made a clawing motion toward Fang.

"Um, sir?" The man behind the podium asked. "Who are you?"

Iggy stood up and cleared his throat. "My name is Iggy," he said. "And I am a Fang addict."

Fang faintly heard Max banging her head against the wall as he said, "Go home, Iggy."

"Okay," he said reasonably, standing up and moving towards the door that Max was no longer guarding. "See you there!" he threw over his shoulder before disappearing around the corner.

"Thank, God," Podium Guy muttered. "I though we were going to have to send him to sit in the corner." This resulted in everyone looking longingly towards one of the dark, quiet corners of the room.

"Anyways!" Podium Guy said loudly, drawing their attention back. "Who would like to begin the discussion?"

A boy in the back raised his hand and when he was nodded to, he stood up. "I don't know why my parents are so surprised that I'm Emo. I mean, what did they expect when they named me Skelator Lucifer Guyliner Jr.?"

And so Fang's first day at Emos Anonymous began.

_**Four Hours Later...**_

"Don't ever make me do that again," Fang said as he and Max made their way down the hall and into his room. They'd gotten home only about 10 minutes after leaving the auditorium Fang's group had been meeting in, and he hadn't shut up about it since.

"Stop being Emo," she said back.

"But it's so ha-ard," he whined.

"That's what she said," Gazzy called as he walked by the door. After a moment of silence Max moved over to the door, waited a second, as if expecting something else to happen, and then shut the door.

"It's okay, Fang," she said, sitting next to him and taking his hand. "I'll help you through this. We're in this together."

"Yeah, Fang, I'm here for you." The two of them looked confusedly at each other before Fang leaned forward and looked under the bed.

"Go away, Iggy," he said.

"Whatever you say, Fangy!" Iggy rolled out from under the bed and casually walked out the door, letting it swing closed behind him.

Silence. And then:

"Remember when he liked bombs?" Max asked.

"Remember when I never talked?" Fang added.

"Yeah, it's kind of like some higher power has totally rearranged our lives for their own sick amusement, making us act completely different and act out in ways which we never normally would just because they're bored."

There was a moment of thoughtful silence as they looked at each other. Then they burst out laughing.

"Oh yeah, that's _totally _what's going on!" Fang said between laughs.

"Yeah, next thing you know people will care more about videos of cats doing human things than they do their own work!"

"You'll buy a phone simply because there's an app for finding local sushi restaurants, and not because you'll ever need to call people!"

"Sarah Pallin's opinion will still be relevant!" They both fell over laughing at the utter silliness of any of those situations, the horrors from that afternoon momentarily forgotten.

Eventually they both calmed down, but stayed laying side by side, looking up at the ceiling.

"I don't have to keep going to those EA meetings, do I?" Fang asked after awhile.

"I don't know, I think they could really help you."

"But all I did was complain. I can do that here," he pointed out.

"Yeah, but I won't smack you if you complain there. And you still have some stuff to talk to them about."

"Like what?" Fang asked, and Max raked her brain, finally coming up with an answer.

"Well, you never talked to them about that scary dancing fit a few days ago."

Fang sat up suddenly and looked at Max like she'd just slapped him. "You didn't like my mating dance?"

"What? No! I mean, yes!" Max sat up also, trying desperately to think of something to say. But all she kept coming back to was: _mating dance?_

"Swear you think I'm a good dancer?" Fang asked warily.

"...Only if you stop being Emo," she replied.

"Only if you stop denying our undying love for each other," he retorted.

"Only if you get rid of the Under Armour."

"Only if you take cooking classes."

Max considered it for a moment, then stuck out her hand and said, "Deal." They shook on it and then went back to staring at the ceiling.

"I'm bored," Max said after a minute.

"...Wanna go to Walmart?"

"Sure."

And so began a much more normal time for Max and Fang.

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**Wow, I really have no idea what to say. I couldn't help but leave it a little open ended, because you never know when inspiration may strike.**

**Also, this FanFic in no way reflects my political views and/or opinions on Under Armour, gay people, Emos, YouTube, phones that do more than just call people, or Sarah Pallin. :)**

**Review...?  
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